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Have you ever wondered what it's like to conduct a word-class professional orchestra?

For the seasoned maestro it can feel like the ultimate dream come true. During the performance the orchestra seems to read your mind, knowing exactly how you'd wish to shape this phrase or pace that crescendo. The musicians' collective skill instantly serves up the very sound you just imagined. They respond with an amazing unity to the subtlest motions of your baton, the slightest movements of your hands, and even to your unconscious facial expressions.

It takes many years, however, to master that complex and delicate relationship between maestro and orchestra. For the inexperienced conductor standing on the podium, it can be a lonely and isolated experience. If he looks to the musicians for any support or encouragement he will find none. They have, after all, spent a lifetime of practicing to play as perfectly as they can. The same perfectionism that served them so well in honing their own skills is inevitably focused on the conductor. The musicians long for a leader as skilled in his craft of conducting as they are in their craft of instrument-playing.

So what does a young conductor need to know as she steps up to the podium, looking out at all those expectant, demanding faces? What I've learned from years of conducting symphony orchestras and working with business leaders is that a maestro and an executive face very similar challenges. Therefore, what helps on the podium can help in the corner office...

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